Thimble.



No. 635,369. Patented Oct. 24, |899.

F. C. BOWEN. THIMBLE. (Applicatidp Bled July 13, 1.899..)

l(Ilo Model.)

W/TNssEs.- z'fNI/ENTOR.

STATES PATENT FFICE@ FRANCIS O. BOWEN, OF MADISON, NEVy JERSEY, ASSIGNORTO THE CON- SOLIDATED SAFETY PIN COMPANY, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEV JERSEY.

THIMBLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,369, dated October24, 1899.

Application filed July 13,1899. Serial No. 723,668. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS C. BOWEN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Madison, in the county of Morris and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thimbles,of which the following is a specification.

The general object of my invention is to promote the utility of thethimble as to its holding effect on the needle to which it may bepresented in use; and to this end it consists, essentially, in providingthe thimble with one or more alternating grooves and elevations whichare adapted to engage with the head of the needle as generally employedfor rsewing purposes, as hereinafter more fully set forth. l

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a side view of athimble embodying my invention with circumferential grooves andelevations. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of the thimbleshown in the preceding figure. Fig. 8 represents a side View of thethimble with alternating grooves and elevations. Fig. 4 represents anend view thereof. Fig. 5 represents a side View of the thimble withalternating grooves and elevations, the elevations being indented,leaving the grooves plain. Fig. 6 represents a side View of the thimblewith alternating grooves and elevations, the grooves being indented,leaving the elevations plain.V

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The letterA indicates the body of the thimble, B the grooves, and B theelevations thereof. Said grooves and elevations alternate with eachother and may be one or more in number, as may be found more expedientin practice.

In the examples shown in Figs. l and 2 the alternatinggrooves andelevations extend circumferentially of the thimble, while in theremaining figures these parts extend longitudinally of the article.

The body of the thimble is composed of sheet metal or other suit-ablematerial and may be brought into the required shape by spinning,molding, or other mechanical means and preferably that of a truncatedcone, and

for the purpose of increasing the efficiency the grooves and elevationsboth are indented, as shown in Figs. l and 3, or either the grooves orelevations may be indented, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively.When the thimble is closed at the top, this part is also indented, asshown in Fig. l; but it may be here remarked that the thimble may beleft open at that point, as in a tailors thimble, the purpose of theseiudentations being to receive the head of the needle in a well-knownmanner, to which the thimble may be presented in use.

The cont-our of the thimble is curvilinear in one example in thelongitudinal section and in the other example in the transverse sectionthereof, according to t-he direction of the alternating grooves B andelevations B', which are respectively concave and convex. The groovesand elevations, moreover, are continuous with each other on that portion.of the thimble where they are located and are of corresponding area ordiameter to each other. An important advantage resulting from thecontinuous arrangement of the alternating grooves and elevations is thatthe surface of the thimble thus affords a series of contacting pointsfor the head of the sewingneedle instead of a single contacting point,as in the ordinary thimble. Another peculiarity of the alternatinggrooves and elevations is the arrangement thereof in relation to thesurface of the thimble as determined by the outer diameter of the lowerplain portion thereof below the grooves and elevations which areconcomitant to the upper portion of the thimble-that is to say, thegrooves are situated in a line or plane within the surface of thethimble and the elevations situated in a line approximately coincidentwith the surface thereof, and it will be observed that by this meansboth the grooves and elevations are adapted for eective presentation tothe sewing-needle in the use of the thimble, in contradistinction, to apresentation arising from an indeinite arrangement in a line within thesurface of the thimble,

of the grooves and elevations in relation to and the elevations situatedin a line Coincithe thimble-surfaoe. dent with the surface thereof,whereby both Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure the grooves andelevations are adapted for I5 by Letters Patent, iseffectivepresentation to the sewing-needle,

A thimble of frusto-oonioal shape formed v substantially as shown anddescribed. integral with a` lower plain portion and an upl per portiondivided into alternating grooves and elevations, which are respectivelyooni cave and convex, of uniform area and continuous with each other,the grooves situated i FRANCIS C. BOWEN.

Vitnesses:

CHAs. WAHLERS, JAS. S. EWBANK.

